Is this where App Store ratings actually come from?

With over a million apps competing for the money and attention of millions of iPhone and iPad owners, developers will do whatever it takes to stand out from the crowd. Whether it’s spending a small fortune on Kate Upton and Liam Neeson in a Super Bowl commercial or genuinely trying to make a quality product and hoping that will be enough, there are a lot of different strategies to choose from. However, if this photo is to be believed, not everyone is playing fair.

A few days ago, Simon Pang, creator of app prototyping software TapCase, tweeted this picture along with the caption, “This is how App Store ratings work. Welcome to the reality.” The photo shows a woman sitting in front of dozens of iPads. Pang’s tweet suggests that she has been hired to give a specific app a high rating over and over again on each device to make it seem as if multiple users are enjoying the app and give it an artificial boost. To the left you can see what looks like the back of a similar wall of iPads.

The picture and its apparently damning depiction of the integrity of App Store ratings quickly spread with over 5,000 retweets. But out of all the commentary, Fireproof Games co-founder Barry Meade’s take might be the most interesting, if depressing. Along with the photo and original quote, he added, “Respected major developers use systems like this daily.”

So is the entire App Store corrupt beyond belief? A system like this, while super shifty and certainly tedious for whoever is hired to work it, is at least marginally better than faking ratings with an army of robots. However, the fear is that developers use tactics like this to cheat their apps to the top of the charts. Once at the top, the apps get better visibility and more downloads leading to more money for the creators. Many conspiracy theorists still believe dishonest tricks like this are responsible for the Flappy Bird phenomenon.

We don’t know the whole context for this image, but it’s hard to imagine what else it could be. However, with new legislation like the European Union’s crackdown on gross in-app purchase scams, the Wild West of App Store lawlessness might soon be over. Or maybe all these shady dealers will just shift their attention to wearables and hire people to wear a dozen Apple Watches at once. Now that’s a picture I’d like to see.